Observation: CCW & HD shotguns & rifles are for defense. CCW
handguns don't need adjustable sights, lites and lasers. The kind
of junk people are bolting on their HD long guns is nuts. The shotguns with folding stocks, vertical grips, Ghost ring. Sites, the
Hi assault rifle front site, reflex sites, Lasers, lights , door breaching muzzle, extended mags, ect, list goes on. They may
look tacti-cool but all that crapp is a hinderence if you ever have to use them for PD. Since most people are not going on air
assault operations with Seal Team 6, the "bling" is not necessary.Keep you CCW and HD guns simple and they will give
you years of service.

I like to be able to identify my target at night/in the dark so I think I'll keep my TLR-1's on my HD guns.

I also think folding or collapsible stocks are nice to have for storage/transport or for smaller stature people.

I AGREE WITH 99% OF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, Drm50. I BEG TO DIFFER, WHEN IT COMES TO LASERS. I FIRST GOT TURNED ONTO CRIMSON TRACE LASER GRIPS BY MASSAD AYOOB, WHEN I TOOK HIS 2 DAY TRAINING ON LETHAL FORCE AND SELF DEFENSE, BACK IN THE 1980s. HIS PERSONAL J-FRAME WAS WEARING A PAIR, AS WERE THE GUNS WE USED IN THE COURSE. HE EXTOLLED THEIR VIRTUES, AND AFTER HANDLING HIS REVOLVERS, I WAS SOLD…..

AS A RESULT, MY CCW J-FRAMES HAVE BEEN FITTED WITH CT LGs EVER SINCE. IF THEY ARE A MUST HAVE FOR MAS AYOOB, THEN THEY ARE A MUST HAVE FOR ME ALSO. BELOW IS A PIC OF MY LATEST CCW J-FRAME. ITS A 642-1, WEARING CT LG-405s. I FAVOR THE 405 MODEL, BECAUSE THE BACKSTRAP HAS A MOLDED IN AIR CHAMBER THAT CUSHIONS THE RECOIL OF THE LIGHT REVOLVER….

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I agree with most of your list. Ghost ring sights though, while un-necessary for HD, are pretty useful if you're going to go out and shoot it at stuff.

Some of the shotguns I see in the classified around here are completely ridiculous with all the "bling" tacked on to them. Funny how no one wants to keep them once they get it just the way they want.

Agreed.

Kiss principle applied...

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Pay attention...it pays to win

I tend to agree with you, but really don't care what someone else wants to do with their gun.

As long as they don't try to tell me I gotta have it.

And even if they do, I'll just say, "Thank you for your advice."

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John 3:16 .

Agreed somewhat. For carry guns all I want is night sights.

For HD (rifle or shotgun) I prefer a light and a red dot. Red dots make target aquire a lot faster. And like someone else said, a light helps identify the target at night.

Folding stocks I can take or leave because they are only ment for easier transport and storage. So if it's a home defense shotgun I'd have the stock open anyway

If I remember correctly, wasn't it "Dick Tracy" of comic book detective fame who said in his Crimestoppers sidebar, "hold the flashlight away from your body so that if gunfire is returned, it will be at the flashlight and away from your body"? Never made sense to me to give the bad guy a bright target to shoot back at with the flashlight attached to the gun itself.

Lasers allow you to acquire a a target quickly without have to aim with sights, especially in frenetic, short distance, self defense scenarios. Lights attached to weapons give your assailant a perfect target behind the light source, much more so than a laser source. My HD shotgun is Scattergun Technologies (B4 Wilson) basic conversion to a Remington 870. I left the rifle sights on it because they are much quicker to use than ghost ring sights. Everything I need. Too much stuff can be a distraction.

Guns are like cars. Build it the way you want. People are going to like it or not either way. I'm with the "less is more" crowd myself. I remember the bad, old days when we had to carry all our gear. I begrudged any and every extra ounce. The only extra I've come to appreciate is the Trijicon ACOG. My son, (5 tours), turned me on to them.

Given that the odds that any of us will ever have to actually use a home defense gun are somewhere between slim and none, I say, have fun with it if you want to. Tart it up with all the gadgets that suit your fancy -- or not.

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Not in jail.

Reminds me of way back when all the accessories were first offered for the sks. I tricked it out with the plastic stock and hated the look back to wood I went.

My norinco 1911 with the nm barrel bushing and a new usgi surplus barrel will shoot clusters and cloverleafs at 25yds with the original sights.

I had a Mossberg 500 with a 20" barrel that held 8 rounds in the mag. The one night I had an actual need to grab it out of the closet, I found myself wishing for a little shorter barrel.

Sold it and picked up an 18" barreled Rem 870 Police Mag that holds 4 in the mag and still has the bead front sight. Its about as plain as they come and just the way I like it. I do however like having a light on it and our bedroom handgun.

Bedroom Glock 40 has night sights and a light attached. I like not having to look for a flashlight if something goes bump in the middle of the night. Just because its on there dosent mean I have to turn it on.

As far as all the other bling goes, I have no use for it. I like to keep it light weight and simple.

Cars don't need no newfangled automatic transmission. Everyone should use a stick shift.

You mean people accessorize their guns to their liking when did this craziness start? Next thing you know we will all be driving different vehicles and our houses won't match.

I have no problem modifying a competition gun for it's intended use, but when I see all this "Tactical" everything, I begin to get revulsion. A little goes a long way. There are an awful lot "wanabee's" spending a heck of a lot of money on all these accessories, but I guess it helps the economy. Just don't flaunt them in front of me, I'm sick of them.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

First thing that,people do when someone shines a light in their face is squint, put their hand up to block the light and turn away. That's everyone's instant reaction. If you're going to wait for him to realize he can still shoot then you might as well just go empty handed

For those of you who belittle using a flashlight attached to a firearm, you're doing it wrong. You're not supposed to stand there with the flashlight turned on, making yourself a target. The idea is to use a quick flash to identify or temporarily blind an intruder/attacker...then, switch off and quickly move to another position. The intruder is left unable to identify your location because of his loss of night vision. Maybe try it with just a high lumen flashlight, and you'll understand the concept.

You run your way, I'll run my way . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

You don't turn your weapon light on and leave it on. This is about as tactical as my HD weaponry gets. If you have a light you can always choose to use it or not to use it. With my setup I don't have to keep track of a light and a gun. If I need a light I can use it and still keep both hands on the gun, no one handed shooting.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

Gotta go with ONE EYE on this one. The laser on my nightstand gun gets me on target quicker in very low light conditions.

If I opt to be more humane, I will let the cats go for the laser point and shred the guy's underoos.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Go with what works for you. Informed opinions/advice can be useful and you can take it or leave it.
But never let anybody tell you what you need or that your choice is wrong.

I fundamentally agree. I wouldn't feel vulnerable if all I owned were my S&W M-65 .357 mag, my Winchester model 1894 .30-.30, and my 12 ga. Browning Auto 5 slug gun.

MB

Close up shots look point shoot. No sights. I have no gaudy looking sights on my ccw guns.

There are seal team six or dirty Harry closet guys. They know who they are. I keep it plain Jane, no frills freaking simple.

Gun mounted lights don't have to be turned on. Lasers don't either. If you have more money than you need, put lights and lasers on your HD gun. You MIGHT actually need them someday.

DO get a tactical flashlight for HD.

Dick tracey wasnt staring into 630 lumens on my trl 1 hl light.

Why not just blind with the light and then fire as necessary or not? If youre close enough to identify them with a flashlight youre well within range to shoot or not. Why go scampering around your home?

What I can't figure out is why people worry about what everyone else is doing instead of minding their own business.

Last I heard, it was a free country.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I need glasses to read and therefore have a hard time picking up the sites on my handgun in low light. I added a TLR2 to my bedside gun in order to see my target in the dark. Having a laser dot in the middle of a bright light is easy for me to pick up. Seeing what I'm pointing my gun at is important to me. Having said that I don't have any need for a light or laser on my CCW.

The point I was trying to make is that if you leave the flashlight on for more than a couple of seconds while you identify whether you're dealing with a true threat, you may have presented yourself as a target for an assailant who might instinctively fire at the light source. If you want to stand there with your flashlight on, it's your call. I'll stick with my training.

I will add my comment to reinforce the concept of KISS. Keep it simple-----.

While the bells and whistles do offer an advantage, they also have downside of making it more complicated. There have been reports were an officer thought he was turning on the light and discharged the sidearm.

If accessories are added, then practice is vital for the safe and effective use of the accessory.

I do not argue with those adding the extras but would caution it adds practice time to be safe.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Everyone has his own preference. Carry and use what makes you confident.

I don't care for lights and lasers and such on defensive guns but some guys swear by them. Adjustabe sites are fine in a holster for me but I prefer fixed on a concealed handgun.

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No life story has happy end.

My trl 1 light does scare ne alightly. I have short fingers and i could see myself trying to turn the light on and instead pulling the trigger

Easiest way to avoid that scenario is to not use your trigger finger for anything put pulling the trigger. I use the thumb of my left (support) hand to actuate the light switch on my TLR-3. At least this is what works for me.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

^^^What Richard says. It's simple and works well with the thumbs forward grip.

Of course everyone has the right to do as they like and plenty of people enjoy messing with lasers, tactical rails and all sorts on their HD shotgun and I don't have a problem with that. What I would say though is if you ever had to take someone out in a HD situation and your 870 or Mossy looks like an AR on steroids you could have a problem. YMMV

+1
My only comment is be familiar with your chosen means/methods enough so you are confident and comfortable if/when you have to use it.
If you practice, you may find you don't need some of the stuff you think you do. On the other hand, you may need something entirely different.

Works for me, and has for years.

It's your gun, your choice which gun, and certainly your decision what if anything you hang on it. I'm old and slow and need things very, very simple and reliable.

Guess I'm long past being "tactical" in the currently popular definition of the term.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Since when are practical and fun the same.

Lasers, lights, bayonets....they put those rails on there for a reason.... Gotta fill 'em up.

Me, I just have night sights... So I can find my gun int the dark. Or are those not cool either?

I'm no longer tactical and tacticool.

Yea god forbid someone puts tasteless accessories on their HD gun. After all the bad guy should first be impressed with the looks and design of said firearm.

What happens when it's not exectly close up, point blank?

I'm surprised no one here is using a musket for HD. I guess self loading isn't too tactical

I never understood the concept of taking a perfectly light infantry weapon, and loading it up with stuff turning it into something that weights so much, that a Garand and 200 rounds of .30-06 would weigh less. All that stuff is fine and dandy when clearing crack houses and cartel headquarters, but sling it and tote it on a 20 mile push through the brush. After a mile or two, you can be tracked by following the stuff you discarded. A 5.5 lb. hunting rifle is too heavy for me to tote, and I'm still looking for something lighter.

You forgot beer goggles.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Well at 68 this qualifies me as an old fart. Bought a police turn in 870 and after cleaning off all the rust and refinishing the stock it's just fine as it is. Now having said that as my eyes get older I'm seriously thinking about a decent set of sights and a light. My oldest 870 is a wingmaster with rifle sights and a slug barrel. Used that for deer in the irish Alps. Must like the 870 as I have 4 of them. Frank

It's all about the Big Sell. Just like all the Ruger 10/22 accessories of the past, only now its for the plastic semi autos and black HD shotguns.
But it's also fun to buy things to accessorize... women have known about this for years, either that or we're all latent Mall Ninjas.

John

I personally like having my Swiss Army knife duct taped to my HD revolver, and I don't care what other people think...

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

Lights and lasers and sights, oh my!
20130927_123710 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Overkill...more like "overloaded" ala Mall Ninja ne' Sidewalk Commando...

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NULLI SECUNDUS

Don't CC much. Occasionally, but mostly ... no. Due to paste experiences, I do give attention to HD For many years the SD/HD firearm for our home has been a 1911 loaded with 230 gr. ball. Yes... there are more fashionable rigs available. But, I'm comfortable with this set up. Over the last few years, the 1911 was a RIA 1911-A1 lightly customized w/ sights, etc. Today, that changed. Tonight, the nightstand will be occupied by a Colt Ser. 70... loaded with 230 ball. The more things change, the more some things stay the same! One thought... will likely give some attention to a laser for the 1911. The reason is simple. It's one less thing to fiddle with if one must deal with something that goes bump in the night. Back in 2005 I had to deal with a intruder. Took the 1911 and left my wife and children in the back of the house as I moved down the hallway toward the den/kitchen, etc. Not a happy experience. Oddly, found the noise was coming from the hall bathroom. Flipped on the light and as Gomer would say... "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!" It was the family tomcat ... he had cornered a large wharf rat in the bathtub. He was beating hold hound out of that rat knocking it up against the sliding glass door, etc. Since I no longer have an attack cat to protect us from rats... four or two legged... figure I might need a laser... and maybe a good flashlight. It'd give me an edge. And if I ever have to again deal with some sort of rat, I figure it will be a good thing to have an edge. Sincerely. bruce.

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